Sincerely, Your feMale Apprentice
by Fumika Ito
Summary: Kang Yun Soo is an inspiring Potioneer, but with few apprenticeships available, she thinks she's finally gotten a break when a spot opens up at Hogwarts. The problem: the Potions master will only accept males. Never one to back down from a challenge, she decides to pretend to be boy behind the back of the hated professor.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Kang Yun Soo had never been one to play by the rules, and how could she with the lot she had gotten? Therefore, it was of no surprise when the young aspiring Potioneer announced to her dearest friends Remus Lupin (a former teacher at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry), Sirius Black (infamous escapee from Azkaban), Margret Müller (the famous "M" of the German quidditch team), and Elle Thatcher (the sweetest person she had ever known) that she had finally snagged an apprenticeship, but one in which the master would only accept a male. The surprise in the entire matter came not from the fact that she would be pretending to be a man, but from the knowledge that the one teaching her would be none other than the infamous Severus Snape.

The shock on her friends' faces was quickly evident when she answered after an inquiry as to who would be teaching her. Yun Soo, having never met the man herself, was quizzical as to the dread the others had felt; on the contrary, she was rather excited that after two years of searching, she would finally be able to finish her schooling. These opportunities were rather difficult to come across. Fortunately, the Headmaster of the school, Albus Dumbledore, also knew this and allowed her to enter the apprenticeship behind the back of his employee. The others, however, were of a different mind.

"_Snivellus?_ You're being taught by _Snivellus_?" Margie choked, hardly able to contain her amusement.

"Really, Snivellus? And I thought I came up with bad nicknames," Yun Soo laughed.

"Yeah, you're laughing now. Just wait 'till you actually have to work for the git," Sirius grinned.

"He's not that bad," Elle asserted. Margie and Sirius snickered.

"Oh, get off it, Elle. He's a bloody nightmare," Margie smirked.

"He's not exactly everyone's favorite person," Lupin said. Yun Soo scoffed.

"Well, it's taken me two years to get an opportunity like this. I'll be damned if I let anyone stop me."

Yun Soo stood before a mirror, lips pursed, running her slender fingers through her black hair, each time passing from strand to air regretfully quickly. Her hair, having once cascaded down her back, was now cut into a short Asian boy style. Not only that, but (somewhat uncomfortably) wrapped around her torso was a vest of sorts (ingeniously engineered by Ellie), whose purpose was to flatten her chest. This was concealed underneath a crisp white button up shirt and a comfortable black sweater: the Hogwarts uniform. Her uniform was very similar to those worn by the students, except that instead of the symbol of her "house" (as she had been told existed in the school) knitted onto the upper part of the torso, there was the emblem of the school itself. Another perk of being an apprentice: she was not obliged to ride the school train.

Still tugging at the ends of her hair, she walked out of the upstairs bathroom and down the stairs where her roommates were waiting for her. She entered the living room.

"Bloody hell, I think Ellie's mum's gonna have a heart attack if she sees that bloke livin' with us," Margie grinned, looking up at her arrival.

"Ellie's mum is gonna have a heart attack? What about my parents? I haven't told them a thing," Yun Soo snorted, plopping down into an armchair and continued messing with her hair. Ellie said in exasperation, smiling, "Would you leave that hair of yours alone? It looks great on you, dear."

"I don't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment," Yun Soo laughed, as did the rest of them. The clock stroked ten. It was time to go.

"You take care of yourself, you hear me?" Ellie murmured, as she pulled her friend into a hug.

"Don't get those girls sexually confused," Margie joked, roughing up Yun Soo's hair. She stepped into the fireplace, said the name of her destination, and watched as her friends faces whirled away in a green haze.

No matter how many time she traveled by Floo Powder, she could never seem to land quite right. In all of the dizziness, Yun Soo lost her balanced and found herself stumbling out of the fireplace in professor Dumbledore's office. She reached out and clung to the first thing she could find. This "thing" turned out to not be a thing at all; it turned out to be the very man who would be teaching her Potions.

"Sorry," she breathed and quickly stepped back. Severus Snape glared down his hooked nose at her.

"I'd suggest you do not let such carelessness transition into your potion-making, Mr. Kang, if you dare even hope of gaining my recommendation," he declaimed, dusting the soot off of his robes. Her jaw hardened, but she did not reply. Dumbledore stepped forward to ease the tension.

"Well, now that you two have established an acquaintance, perhaps you would care to take a tour of the castle, Mr. Kang," he lilted, blue eyes glistening cheerfully behind a pair of half-moon spectacles. She expressed delight in such a thing, and the three of them (She and Dumbledore in the lead while Snape followed behind) transversed its corridors and principal places. They met a few teachers along the way: Minerva McGonagall, professor of Transfiguration, and Madam Hooch, flying teacher; however, most were in their classrooms preparing for the new school year.

During her entire tour of the school, she never heard the man who she would have to be most intimate with speak to her. What purpose did it serve for him to follow them about in that manner? While she and Dumbledore talked pleasantly on school matters, he brooded behind them, never once sharing any input. To his defense, he didn't seem to be enjoying his involvement in their little escapade anymore than she did and she suspected this may have been Dumbledore's doing.

In half an hour's time, they reached the mouth of the dungeons where Dumbledore stopped to bid them adieu.

"I hope I haven't bored you too much, Mr. Kang," he smiled, shaking her hand. "I expect you both in the Great Hall before six in order to greet the students. _You'll_ be joining us at the faculty table-" He glanced toward Yun Soo—"since you are not a student here."

"Thank you so much—for everything," she said, hinting at the fact that he had agreed to go behind the back of his employee.

"It is my pleasure," he winked and she was assured he had obtained the message.

Dumbledore retraced their steps up the grand staircase and disappeared at the turn of a corner. Yun Soo heard a voice growl from behind, "Come on." She obeyed but not without resentment. The two of them traveled down the insubstantially lit corridors of the Hogwarts Dungeons and passed by what she gathered to be the Slytherin dormitories. They turned a corner and appeared before a rather long hallway. Here they stopped and Snape indicated a black door on the far right.

"That is my classroom. And this—" He abruptly began walking again and she was forced to jog to catch up. "—is your room." They had turned another corner and appeared before another black door. He glared down at her once again and insinuated, "I expect you to be in my classroom ready to brew by the time the clock strikes seven. Lateness will not be tolerated."

She nodded and watched as he turned away without another word and disappeared around a corner, yet could not help but feel a little miffed. In less than an hour, he had already accused her of laziness and clumsiness and questioned her abilities as a potioneer. It was irritating, really.

Yun Soo entered her room and was delighted to find that the door was not the color she had thought it to be, but rather a dark mahogany rendered black in the shadows. It was also a relief to find her private quarters were not gloomily adorned—plain, yes, but not gloomy, which was something that could easily be fixed. However, there was no time to think about that now or even to unpack the suitcase that had arrived hours before her. It was only too clear that he would waste no time in her education and would undoubtly start that very evening. Potions was the one thing Yun Soo could potentially excel in and therefore had no choice but to do her best.

She left the single room and traveled up to the Library—or at least, where she thought the Library was. The door she opened instead led to an airy room, lined with tables of strange symbols on the counters encircling three of its walls. A man, most likely in his late twenties and reclining in a brown leather chair with his legs crossed onto his desk, looked up from the book he was reading with curiosity lacing his handsome features.

"There aren't supposed to be any students here yet or I've completely lost track of time," he chuckled goodheartedly and glanced towards a grandfather clock in the corner.

"Oh, I'm not a student. I'm Professor Snape's new apprentice," she corrected.

"Ah, really? I thought he was only accepting males." Her heart stopped.

"I am a guy," she retorted, slipping her hands in her pockets in an attempt to look manlier. She hoped the turmoil she felt within was not present in her expression.

"Ha ha, sorry about that, but you have to admit you've got a feminine look."

"Hey! Do you know how many girls would kill to be with someone as cute as me?"

The two quickly became friends; yet, no matter how hard Professor Hugh Norewood tried, he could not seem to wrap his mind around the idea that such a soft featured person could be a boy. His voice was too high pitched…. The more and more he thought about it, the more curious he became. Would the headmaster do something like this? Go behind an employee's back for some shrewd motive only he could be clever enough to devise?

He wouldn't put it past him.

They talked for a while more before deciding to head down to the Great Hall together. There she met the other teachers: Sprout, Hagrid, Flitwick, and numerous others whose names she would probably forget by the end of the evening. McGonagall was absent, but she had been told that she was waiting to greet the new students. A few minutes after the clock had struck six, the great oak doors swung upon and in poured hoards of whom she assumed to be the returning children. This became even more evident when she noticed them pointing at her and whispering one another.

"Stop being so nervous," Hugh grinned, noticing the blood rush to her cheeks.

"They think I'm a student," she groaned and sunk a little lower into her chair.

"Making yourself shorter isn't going to help, you know."

"Shut up—"

"Welcome," Dumbledore boomed, who had risen from an ornately decorated throne of sorts. "Once again we find these ancient halls of Hogwarts filled with smiling faces; however, before we fill ourselves with the delicious foods meticulously prepared for today's feast, let us welcome the new members of your respective houses. Professor McGonagall, if you will, please."

The doors opened once more and a pool of mixed expressions filed behind the business-like stride of McGonagall. Then began the sorting in which some enchanted hat decided which of the four houses Hogwarts' newest additions would be joining (it also sang a rather strange song beforehand). Once everyone was settled, delicious foods appeared onto the once empty platters scattered along every table and Yun Soo could not help but let her eyes grow wide at the spectacle.

"What? Haven't you ever attended a feast before?" Hugh smirked.

"Nothing even close to this scale," she confessed in blissful awe and almost immediately began piling food onto her plate. To both her pleasure and discomfort came dessert afterwards and by the time Dumbledore had had all the plates magically cleared and once again stood before the students, her stomach had been filled. He explained the rules which seemed to be customary to the ears of those returning. Then he announced, "and allow me to introduce the newest addition to our school: Mr. Kang."

To the bidding of Hugh, she stood up rather nervously to the clapping and sat down again.

"Although he shall not be teaching or attending any of the school's regular classes, he will be attaining an apprenticeship under Professor Snape and is to be treated as any of the other faculty." To her embarrassment, she watched as whispers once again filled the hall at this piece of gossip. He waited until the hall was quiet before introducing two other ladies who would be joining the teaching staff.

Dumbledore had just begun explaining something about the House Quidditch teams when he suddenly broke off mid-sentence and turned slightly to look at the small woman—Umbridge, Yun Soo believed her name was—who had stood up from the seat beside his. She said, "_Hem, hem_,"  
and it was understood that she intended to make a speech. Although it was Yun Soo's first time at this school, she could tell by the shocked expressions on the other staff members faces that the headmaster was not one you interrupted. However, he seemed to have taken it much better than the others and sat down graciously to allow her the floor.

Her voice turned out to be just as incredibly obnoxious as the bright pink-on-pink outfit she wore. The way she addressed the students was also quite shocking and Yun Soo was forced to cover her mouth with her hand when she saw their expressions at being spoken to like toddlers. At length though, that God-awful speech ended and Yun Soo joined in with the other staff members in a round of applause. Dumbledore continued with his previous speech and then sent the students to their chambers.

She rose as the others did, but had did not move elsewhere, having begun conversing with Hugh about the school. Umbridge on the other hand had begun to walk; however, as she passed by where Yun Soo stood, she stopped and turned to face her. Yun Soo halted mid-sentence and said, "Professor Umbridge," with a nod of her head.

"Mr. Kang, you must be very happy to be the first one to do an apprenticeship at Hogwarts," she started, a Mona Lisa smile plastered onto her square face.

"I was actually unaware of that, Ma'am, but I'm happy to hear it," she said, returning a hopefully more affable grin.

"Well, it is something to be proud of. Something that should not be tainted, but, of course," she insinuated, that smile seeming to become more and more menacing with every word spoken. "you know how much of a respected position it is. I should hate to see anyone sully it. I therefore have your word then, Mr. Kang, that you shall treat it with the utmost care and never _lie_ to me about anything?"

The smile on her face was threatening to slip away as she responded, "Of course, Professor."

"Then I shall look forward to learning more about you, Mr. Kang," Umbridge replied before leaving the room.

Yun Soo found herself extremely bothered with the way Umbridge had spoken to her, as if she knew that this Mr. Kang was not the person he claimed to be. She became even more agitated as the clock in her room neared seven, knowing she would probably not be able to do whatever professor Snape had in store for her. It didn't help that a single question continuously intruded upon her thoughts: did this Umbridge woman know who she really was?

At around 6:57, Yun Soo rapped her knuckle against the hard mahogany door leading to the Potions classroom and then walked inside once invited. Nearest to her were three rows of wooden tables, each of which had a black cauldron placed beside it. Near the front of the class room was the teacher's desk where Snape sat scribbling on a piece of parchment.

"Brew a Draught of Living Death. The storage closet is behind the door on the right," he ordered without looking up. _Hello to you too_, she thought darkly and made her way over to the storage closet. A couple of candles magically lighted themselves at her entrance, but it was still quite dark in the room. Nonetheless, it was obvious there were no books to be found there, which she needed in order to know the instructions. She poked her head into the classroom and broke in, "Professor Snape."

He looked up irritated as she inquired, "Where do you keep your books?"

"You will use no books. Use your memory," he retorted, returning to what he was doing. Her expression hardened.

"I don't know it by heart," she avowed. His hand stopped quivering along the parchment and his cold, unsympathetic eyes met her own.

"Use your memory," he repeated and then began writing again. She knew that there was no hope in further argument and furiously returned to storage room trying to recall the instructions to a Draught of Living Death. When she placed the various ingredients she had gathered onto one of the tables, she was sure she was missing some things. At this point, she didn't even care. It was obvious that from the start she had been set up for failure, but her competitive side was still bugged by this show of weakness.

She set about to lighting a fire beneath her cauldron with a box of matches she had slipped into her cloak before leaving her room. Snape had noticed this and mocked, "Can't even remember simple magic, Mr. Kang?"

"Situations could arise when you won't have your wand to rely on." It was the same response she gave to every inquirer, even if it did sound a little paranoid.

"Oh, but you'll have a book," he said, words dripping with sarcasm. The blood rushed to her cheeks as she wordlessly continued on.

Neither spoke to the other again until thirty minutes later when Snape had risen from his desk to check on her progress. She had only just begun stirring and braced herself for the censure she would undoubtly receive. One thing she had remembered was that by this time, the potion should be a smooth, dark purple. What Snape looked upon was a gurgling bluish mess.

"Pathetic," He sneered and with a flick of his wand, the monstrosity disappeared from sight. Yun Soo glared at her shoes as he swept passed her and towards the chalkboard in the front of the classroom. He tapped in several different places whereupon words appeared in a neat fashion.

"The ingredients are asphodel with an infusion of wormwood, valerian roots, and sopophorous beans. First you evenly cut up the roots and add it to the potion, causing it to give off a bluish smoke. The ideal halfway stage is when your it resembles a smooth, black current-colored liquid. You then crush the beans with the flat side of the silver dagger and pour it into the potion. It will turn a lilac color. Stir it once clockwise after every seventh counterclockwise stroke. You continue this until it turns clear as water," Snape rattled off effortlessly and irritably, never once glancing at the words gleaming from the chalkboard. "_That_, Mr. Kang, is how you brew a Draught of Living Death."

"Yes sir," she seethed through clamped teeth, her narrowed eyes boring into his. He turned away, fluently tapping the board again whereupon the names of five different potions appeared.

"You will write a report on each of these, including the Draught of Living Death. I expect not only the instructions to making the potions, but an introduction on its origins, uses, counter-effects when brewed incorrectly, and examples of such mishaps by tomorrow. You will also memorize this information for today's potion and this one." He pointed at the words '_SLEEPING DRAUGHT'_— "Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes sir," she hissed. With that, he dismissed her and Yun Soo no longer wondered why it was Sirius and Margie hated the arrogant prick.

* * *

Thanks so much for reading! ^^ I thought I'd just go ahead and clear this up: this is a story that I also post on under the username Fumika. Just thought I'd try out using this site as well. I hope you guys enjoy this one ^^


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kang Yun Soo awoke the next morning relatively rested and cheerful. This was of course before her eyes landed on the _Advanced Potion Making_ mocking from her bedside table. She wasn't much of a morning person as it was and the last thing she needed to see was the bane of her existence: the prospect of a perfectly good afternoon wasted away between the bookshelves of a library (or at least when the books she would be reading were merely for research). _I probably should have started yesterday, _she thought with annoyance.

Heaving a sigh, she shrugged off her russet comforter and clambered out of the queen-sized bed situated in a corner of her room. A glance at a clock told her that she had thirty minutes before breakfast ended at the Great Hall. _At least I don't have that much maintenance to do_, she mused, quickly combing her hair with her hand and then heading towards her dresser.

Severus Snape meanwhile had nearly finished with his small breakfast of toast and eggs, and had begun discussing the morning news (a witch in Surrey had accidently turned her son into a teabag) with his closest friend, Hugh Norewood, professor of Ancient Runes. At length, however, the conversation soon turned upon Snape himself, and what he thought of his first apprentice. The subject elicited a glare and a scoff from the potions master who severely regretted ever being conned into the offer by the headmaster.

"Oh come now, he can't be that bad," Hugh laughed, taking a drink from the goblet before him.

"Lazy, spoiled, seriously misled," Snape groused. "He can't even remember how to brew a simple potion."

"Simple to you, you mean."

"Severus," Dumbledore suddenly intervened, smiling at him in a way that could only mean a favor was to follow. "Speaking of your apprentice, where _is_ Mr. Kang?"

"It's none of my concern where he is before lessons," Snape replied crossly, pushing away the rest of his food. Dumbledore chuckled.

"Well of course, but perhaps you might check to make sure he has not overslept. He is, after all, not used to our schedule here."

Snape knew there was no point in arguing. He pointedly stood up and strode towards the dungeons, jaw hardened and eyes aflame. Within a couple of minutes, he reached the door to Kang's chambers and rapped on it briefly before just merely walking in.

Yun Soo looked away from her reflection in a mirror in alarm as professor Snape rudely marched into her private quarters before she had even thought about asking him to enter. She met his cold eyes with an equally hateful stare as he drawled, "Professor Dumbledore would like me to inform you that breakfast ends by eight o'clock. I assume I won't need to tell you this ever again, Mr. Kang." Her teeth clamped tightly together.

"No sir."

He abruptly left the room.

"Asshole," she grumbled and returned to the predicament that had kept her stuck in her room for the past twenty minutes: how in _hell_ do you tie a tie? All her attempts had resulted in something utterly pitiful. The only reason she had been properly dressed yesterday was because Ellie had tied it beforehand. Then all she had to do was slip it over her head and pull it tighter. Her handiwork had come undone when Yun Soo in her anger had yanked the tie off of her neck.

She soon gave up and decided to ask Hugh about it after breakfast, which she arrived to with five minutes left. She sat at the open seat beside him, greeted the headmaster cheerfully, and pointedly ignored Snape who had not acknowledged her anyways. She had just grabbed a particularly delightful looking Cranberry Muffin when the voice she least wanted to hear called her name.

"Yes, professor Snape?" she inquired callously, meeting his scrutinizing gaze.

"Where, might I ask, is your tie?"

"I've yet to put it on," she said. He glared at her maliciously.

"Though in a unique position you may be, you are no different from any other student here," he chastised. "And as the rest of them, you will wear the required uniform. Fix it." She said nothing in reply and eat her breakfast in resentful silence. When the food from the tables had disappeared from sight (along with her half-eaten muffin, much to her frustration), she strolled with Hugh to his classroom. Once the door had closed behind them, she abruptly confessed, " I have no idea how to tie a tie." He noticed the pleading look in her eye.

"There's no way I'm teaching you."

"Aw, come on, professor!"

"I can barely do it myself!"

"_I_ can't do it at all."

"That's not my problem."

Somehow she was able to convince him to help her, but he proved to be of as much use as her own attempts had been. The situation became even more wonderful with the entrance of Snape, who had come to talk to his friend about something she couldn't possibly fathom. He waited impatiently for the two to finish, but after perceiving no end to these useless efforts in sight, he snapped, "Give it here," and effortlessly tied the tie around Kang's neck.

She became even more pissed off by the belittling manner with which Snape had mocked her limitation, and promenaded back to her room with a mumbled word of thanks. She then attempted to knock out the tedious essays he had set for her. To her dismay, they took up not only her afternoon, but her evening as well (partially due to her often getting distracted by other, much more fascinating potions). The recipe to a Sleeping Draught turned out to be a lot more complicated to memorize than she had predicted. She couldn't even find all the information she needed to write her essays and eventually resorted to just making up something halfway reasonable.

Yun Soo entered the potions classroom that day completely drained of spirit. She already knew she was going to fail to meet his expectations and grudgingly handed him her work.

"Brew a Sleeping Draught," Snape ordered and then shifted into a more comfortable position to read her papers. She slid into the storage closet, racking her brains for the instructions to the potion. She _did_manage to remember that she needed Lavender, Flubberworm Mucus, and Valerian Sprigs and although her concoction turned out better than the previous one, it was still wrong at the point when Snape stood up to check her progress.

"An incorrectly brewed potion, poorly researched and written essays," he observed and with a flick of his wand, the contents of her cauldron disappeared. "I will not tolerate laziness, Mr. Kang, and especially not in someone in your position."

"The library's books didn't have the information you wanted," she retorted. His eyes narrowed.

"I will not accept excuses. Had you ever put any serious thought into my assignment, then maybe you would have considered that the school library is not the only source of information." She glared at him as he waved his wand again and two stacks of expensive looking books appeared on the table before her. "You are to redo each essay you dared turn in to me by time the clock strikes eleven. Also, as a lesson to your ignorance, you will research places in which a person might find information and hand it into me as a written report tomorrow morning. This is my final warning. If I should find you slacking off the next time we meet, you'll be removed from this program."

With that, she wordlessly set about to her work, angered by her own incompetence.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Luckily, Yun Soo did not awaken to the sight of her potions textbook the next morning. That had been flung at the wall once she got back to her room. Nonetheless she was still completely pissed off; pissed off at Snape, pissed off that she had slept through breakfast, pissed off by the fact that she kept stumbling into furniture in the darkness of her dungeon room as she tried to find her uniform. Seriously, what was that asshole's problem? What kind of person expects someone to have memorized a God damn textbook?

She left her room with a black backpack and to the racket of children's voices. A turn of a corner forced her to stop in her tracks as she waited to for a crowd of eleven-year-olds to be herded into the potions classroom by none other than the cause of all her problems. Their eyes briefly met as the potions master followed his flock during which Yun Soo made it clear the absolute disdain she felt for him. She just caught sight of his mocking smirk before he disappeared into his classroom.

For a moment, she stood there frozen, that damn smirk burning into her thoughts. Then her blood began to boil and she clenched her hands into fists.

"I'll wipe that damn smile off your face," she snarled and ran to the library. She stalked right to the potions section and pulled out every book that might have information on her newest assignment: an Awakening Potion. She extracted a tablet from her backpack and played the most inspirational song she could think of: I Am The Best by 2NE1. Then, she set to her task with a fiery determination to prove Seveus Snape wrong.

Yun Soo ended up skipping lunch, but couldn't possible think to do the same for dinner. The Great Hall when she entered was buzzing with activity and she hungrily glided towards the staff table laid at with a delicious array of foods. She settled on an hardy beef stew and sourdough bread and began wolfing down the meal.

"Slow down before you choke," Hugh laughed from the seat beside hers. She merely grinned as she scooped the last few spoonfuls of the soup into her mouth. She stood up and extracted her tablet before swinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"You can't be leaving already," he said in surprise, watching as she tapped on the music icon.

"I'm gonna make that bastard praise me," she avowed with a determined smile and left without another word.

Snape himself entered he Great Hall from a side door a few minutes later and took the seat his student had left. He greeted Hugh and the headmaster and then began sweeping the banquet to see what grabbed his interest.

"It seems you've got quite a determined little apprentice, Severus," Hugh commented. "Only ate a bit of soup before running off to work again."

"And so he should. I won't tolerate an incompetent apprentice."

"Now really Severus, you're too harsh."

"And you're too soft," Snape retorted. "An incorrectly brewed potion can mean someone's death. I will not indulge a child's complaints." They then began discussing the weather.

The time for lessons eventually arrived and Yun Soo strode into Snape's classroom with a resolute smile. She even greeted him.

"Get started," he commanded, completely ignoring her words. It didn't bother her. She was ready this time and would make him regret the way he looked down on her. She entered the storage room and obtained the necessary ingredients: six Snake Fangs, six Dried Billywig Stings, Knotgrass, and finally Wolfsbane. The Wolfsbane she set to the side for after the initial concoction stewed for 95 minutes. Her eyes swept the spread before her: a cauldron filled with water, wood, a mortar and pestle, an iron stirring rod, a measuring cup, a thermometer, her ingredients spread in neat piles across the desk, the Wolfsbane a few spaces apart fm the others. She took a breath.

_1. Add Snake Fangs to the mortar._

Yun Soo let her hand hover above the pouch of small white fangs. _One, two, three, four, five, six._ She dropped them in mortar. She counted them again.

_2. Add 4 measures of Knotgrass to the mortar._

She repeated the instructions once, twice in her head. She followed them cautiously.

_3. Add 6 Dried Billywig Stings to the cauldron._

She did.

_4. Heat on a medium heat for 30 seconds._

_5. Finely crush the ingredients in the mortar._

_6. Add 5 measures of the crushed ingredients to the cauldron._

She extracted the matches from her packet and heard a scoff from her mentor. She ignored him. The cauldron was lit and she slowly fed the fire with wood, watching the temperature rise. It reached the ideal heat. She stopped and immediately began crushing the ingredients, her eyes constantly glancing from the clock back to the mortar. The fangs were harder to crush than she thought. She was a couple of ticks away from half a minute. Nervousness arose. _Calm down, calm down._

She grabbed the measuring cup, filled it to the top, poured it in. The cup held four measures. She needed one more. She scraped up some. Too much. She shook some out. Too little. Time was running out. She needed to begin stirring before the concoction was no good. She tried again. Too much again. _It's okay._ She began pouring it in. She knew about how much had to be left in the cup to get the necessary amount.

Snape heard a short gasp and looked up from the flasks he had been grading. Kang's hand holding a measuring cup was suspended above one of the pewter cauldrons. It was emitting a discolored vapor and he knew he had messed up. Snape waited. If he had been too slow in adding the crushed ingredients, there could be no fixing it; however, judging by the time he had heard the first portion added, he had merely add too much of it. Kang's lips parted and he blinked. An equal ratio of powdered peppermint would counteract the effects of the snake fangs and knotgrass and bring the potion to a stable state. But did he know it?

Kang quickly put the measuring cup back into the mortar and began to stir it.

"Enough," he chided, rising from his desk.

_There's got to be some way to fix it_, she thought staring into the depths of the murky potion. _Think, think! Okay, there's too much crushed stuff—snake fangs and…and knotgrass. Something might be able to counteract it. What's the opposite of snake fangs? The opposite of snake fangs are…the opposite of snake fangs…._

The potion vanished and she felt her body become heavy. Tears immediately sprung to her eyes, but she wouldn't allow them to fall.

"You clearly cannot do what it takes to be a potioneer. Your apprenticeship has ended," Snape said simply as Kang stared blankly at the empty cauldron. He returned to his work.

_No._

"Give me another chance," she whispered.

"Your chances are up."

"Give me another chance," she breathed each word and looked up to stare at him defiantly. "I can do. I know I can do it. I know the instructions. I know this potion. Just let me tr-"

"You were confident the first time and could produce nothing," he snapped. "I don't have time for a whining child. Get out. You're done."

"I can do it," she maintained. Their eyes locked onto one another.

Then Snape waved his hand impatiently. He gave his permission.

Yun Soo turned away and immediately set to work.

By the time Snape assessed the potion again, two hours had passed. It was slightly discolored, the odor a little strange. He gave it a stir with his wand. Sloppy, but perhaps not wrong.

He waved his wand and a vial of Sleeping Draught and jar of spider floated onto the desk before him. He grabbed, engorged it, and then fed it a drop of the Draught. It collapsed in his hand. He extracted some of Kang's potion with a dropper and dropped some on the spider. For a moment it didn't move. Then it slowly shivered and lazily began to walk.

"Slow reaction time, but it's not entirely wrong," he assessed. "I'll expect better in the future. You may leave." Snape watched as he gathered his things and left the class. Perhaps he really did have what it took to become a potioneer. His black eyes swept the classroom before he extinguished the candles illuminating it and retired to his quarters.

Yun Soo rounded the corner to find a surprise outside her door: Hugh, leaning against the stone wall, evidently waiting for her.

"Hey professor," she greeted him and shook his hand.

"I heard professor Snape wasn't exactly pleased by your performances of late. By that grin, expect that's changed?"

"Well, he didn't exactly call me a genus, but I at least got the potion right this time."

"Ah…."

It became silent and she began to wonder why Hugh was here. She watched his easy smile melt into a more serious expression and she began to feel anxious.

"Mr. Kang…," he began tugging on the end of his cloak sleeve. "Are you a girl?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"What?" she said with disbelief and laughed as if she had found what he said extremely funny. In truth, she was shaken. She had hoped that with Professor Dumbledore's word, people would accept what they were being told. Apparently it had not worked with Hugh. She remembered her first day when Umbridge had made that sly comment about her, as if she knew something were amiss. How long would it be before she found out as well? Before Snape found out?

"I've seen the way you act—the way you look."

"I can't help the way I look," she retorted. "You think I don't want to look manlier? Do you know how annoying it gets, always hearing people make fun of me because I look like this?" She hoped some sob story would make him feel bad for ever starting the conversation; perhaps he would even stop other from doing the same.

"I saw the picture you have on that Muggle device you carry," he answered quietly. Muggle device? When had he ever seen her use a Muggle device? The only time she had one out in public was when she was in the library doing research. Had he perhaps been there too? Had she merely been too absorbed researching her assignment?

It was then she remembered earlier today, earlier when she had carelessly removed it from her backpack, visible anyone in her vicinity. Hugh had been there close enough to see and wasn't it only natural to find curiosity in objects one's never seen before?

And then there was the picture. Her heart sank and her brows contracted. How could she possibly talk her way out of this one? Explain away an image of her posing with Margie and Ellie, clad in only a pink bikini? Hugh had evidently already answered his question. He knew she was a girl and nothing she could say could possibly convince him otherwise.

"I…." She couldn't even think of how to begin. She still wanted to believe that she could somehow talk her way out of it and stop those determined blue eyes from observing her. But there, she said it herself._Determined_. What choice did she truly have? She decided to do the next best thing. She begged.

"Please Professor, I know that I shouldn't be lying to Snape and that it's wrong, but I swear I wouldn't have done it if there were some other option. It's just _so_ hard to find a place that's accepting. I swear I won't start any trouble. Just please let me stay. I can't leave here. I just _can't_."

He held up a hand to stop the waterfall of words pouring from her mouth. "What you do is your business. I'm not going to tell Severus or make your life hell. I just needed to know for sure."

He gave her a nod and turned to go, but then remembered something he had meant to caution her about.

"Mist-Miss Kang—"

"I think at this point we've reached a first name basis," she laughed. "It's Yun Soo."

"Well, Yun Soo," he grinned. "Just thought I'd warn you: It's a pretty obvious you're a girl. Honestly, I think the only thing keeping other people from realizing this is the Headmaster."

She groaned. "I'm that obvious?"

"You say words like 'cute' and have feminine features. Yeah, you're obvious," He laughed, waving good-bye as he strolled down the hallway.

When he had finally turned the corner, she hurriedly entered her room and locked the door behind her, pacing the room with her hands pressuring the top of her head. She was an emotional wreck, freaking out, confused and afraid that she wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer. But there was one thing she could not consider. Quitting was not an option. She had dedicated herself to her potions education. How could she suddenly quit now? No, she would have to exert her manliness, talk about sports, watch how other men acted. She needed to stop acting so much like Kang Yun Soo and more like Kang Hyun Soo.

"Fighting!" she whispered to herself with a determined smile on her face.

She entered the Great Hall the next day to the smell of cinnamon rolls and pumpkin spice coffee and the sight of autumn leaves falling from the enchanted ceiling above. She took her customary seat beside Hugh and was about to grab a those two things that had first caught her attention when she stopped to see what the others had gotten. Hugh had a sausage and egg muffin with a mug of black coffee. Snape was ladling steaming gravy with bits of ground beef over soft biscuits torn into pieces. Professor Dumbledore had nothing but a goblet of some drink she couldn't decipher that he drank from sparingly as he conversed with Professor McGonagall.

She glanced once more at the delectable cinnamon rolls and coffee before piling biscuits and gravy onto her plate and pouring out a mug of coffee, straight black. She took a sip and quickly put it down at the taste of the bitter liquid making her taste buds scream in agony. She tried drowning out the taste with the food, but this was a bit too salty for her tastes. None-the-less she ate it begrudgingly in order to quench her growling stomach.

Snape and Hugh had begun discussing a particularly good Quidditch match between the Harpies and the Harriers (although she really couldn't follow it), while she watched the students before her in boredom. It wasn't until one of them mentioned 'Heidelberg' that she truly took interest.

"Wait," she broke in, lips parted. "Heidelberg? As in Heidelberg, Germany?"

"Yeah, you know it?" Hugh asked, turning away from Snape whose expression hardened.

"Yeah, that's the team Margie plays on," she grinned. "Oh, sorry. I meant my roommate, Margret Müller. She's one of their chasers. From what my other roommate, Ellie, says, she's just as wild out on the pitch as she is at home." Her smile slowly disappeared as she finally noticed Hugh looking away uncomfortably. It had gone silent amongst them and it was then she realized that a guy rooming with two girls was a bit strange. When she glanced towards Snape, she could see his criticizing eyes glaring at her, so she buried her nose in Hugh's Daily Prophet to save herself from further embarrassment and began reading the news.

A few minutes later, Snape remembered what he had meant to tell Kang that morning. He glanced towards him and smirked at his look of utter boredom, eyes mindlessly wandering from one sentence to the next. How laughable, this pathetic show of manliness. It wouldn't surprise him to find out he was gay.

"Mr. Kang," he said. Kang looked towards him meekly.

"Yes, Professor?"

"You do not need to turn in an essay to me today. You'll be learning about the properties of different ingredients. Your next potion will be due tomorrow evening."

_Oh, finally gonna teach me something? _She thought this bitterly, but obediently answered, "Fine."

Snape turned away and resumed eating as she relished in the thought of having a day free from the library, although she really wasn't sure what to do. She eventually decided to visit Margie and Ellie, even though she's meant to do it on the weekend. She knew Ellie didn't have work today. She just hoped Margie wasn't out practicing.

"Professor Dumbledore," she called. He glanced in her direction with a pleasant attentiveness she never received from Snape. "Would you mind if I use your fireplace to go home? I wanted to visit my roommates since I have the free time."

"Of course you may," he replied. "But I dare say it would be much more convenient for yourself if you use the one in Professor Snape's office; it's much closer."

She couldn't help but smile at the sight of Snape's fingers curl into a fist as he stared straight ahead with a smoldering glare that could have set the fluttering banners above aflame.

"How very kind of him," she beamed, smiling at him defiantly.

Hugh glanced between the potions master and his student as they stared at each other with the fierceness of a thunderstorm. Really, what could Albus be thinking, putting two people of such explosive personalities together? Surely he knew they wouldn't get along the moment he had met Yun Soo. She was much too lively and he much too sullen. What could possibly come about but constant quarreling?

Then the phrase came to him: _quarreling like an old married couple_. His eyebrows contracted. There was no way, absolutely no way. He locked onto Albus's puzzling smile, a secret hidden behind those glistening blue eyes that watched the couple with the shrewdness of a matchmaker.

Yun Soo had returned to her room and dressed in a black v-neck, black harem pants, and a Nordic pattern jacket before setting off for Snape's office. The door was surprisingly unlocked; however, the one leading from his office to the potions classroom was wide open, probably so he could make sure she wouldn't try to sabotage any of his belongings. She smirked. She had to give him points for not being a complete idiot.

She sneaked past the door as quietly as she could so as not to cause a disturbance and made it to the fireplace. A glance told her that no one had noticed. The students in his classroom today seemed to be second years all much too preoccupied and disheveled by the task at hand. Whatever potion they were making, they were clearly concocting wrong. Moreover, it didn't help that Snape patrolled the room with the severity of a prison guard. The air was singed with the fire of his bleating voice, criticizing everyone and everything his steely gaze found. If he taught them the same way he taught her—and by 'taught' she meant not teaching at all—they had nothing to look forward to except years of misery.

The floo powder was contained in a clear glass jar atop the fireplace from which she took a handful, taking care to spill some of it upon the swept stone floor. Then, with as low of a voice as she could muster, she commanded, "Elle Thatcher's home," and disappeared in a whirl of green flames.

When she reappeared, it was to the warmth of nostalgia and the light pink walls that accented the home she shared with her two best friends. Margie was lying on the raggedy blue couch they really needed to get rid of and was watching a Muggle show on animals. In the air was the familiar sent of cinnamon rolls and the hum of the oven.

"Hey, girly," Margie beamed, looking up at her in pleasant surprise as she walked over to where she lay. "How's Hogwarts been treating you?"

"Fairly well," she grinned, leaning down to give her a hug. "I'm surprised to find you here."

"Yeah, well it seems there's an uncontrollable raining problem on the pitch. Probably the work of some angry Harpies fan."

"I'd heard that that game you guys played was pretty heated."

"Is that Yun Soo?" floated in a voice from the kitchen and appearing before the archway was the figure of a woman in her early thirties with medium length hair and a smile that could always somehow brighten up her day. Yun Soo ran up to hug her, smiling as Ellie laughed, "How are you, dear? How _are_ you?"

When they pulled away, Yun Soo glided to the sage pot heating on the kitchen stove and sampled some of the decadent white icing bubbling inside.

"Hey, get away from there!" Ellie scolded, taking out her wand. A cooking lid and wooden spoon righted themselves from their position atop the counter and flew over to where Yun Soo stood, the spoon commencing to slap her hand away as the lid landed with a satisfied plop on the pot.

"Ah, I miss your rolls," she sighed contently, shooing the spoon away with the hand that was not being licked clean.

"And I _don't_ miss you eating them before they're ready. You'll make yourself sick like that."

"Oh, what do I care?"

"You'll care when we all go drinking today," Margie called out.

"Drinking?" Yun Soo smiled, appearing before the archway. Margie had changed out her sweats for a pair of jeans. "Do tell."

"We'll just take a little floo powder out to Hogsmeade, go shopping, and then hit up The Three Broomsticks. Oh, and we could go visit Hogwarts too. You'd like that, wouldn't you Ellie?"

"And when exactly did you come up with this plan?" Ellie asked, coming up behind Yun Soo with her eyebrow cocked.

"Just now, like always," Yun Soo grinned. Ellie let out an exasperated sigh, but then smiled as she magically changed into a long sleeved sweater dress.

They entered the fireplace and reappeared at the Owl Office in Hogsmeade (to Ellie's urging Yun Soo finally sent a letter explaining her situation to her parents), from there making a tour of all the essentials in the town: Gladrags Wizardwear, Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, Zonko's Joke Shop, and Honeydukes Sweetshop. Yun Soo laughed as her two friends relived their adventures with Sirius and Lupin in the village. As evening arrived, they enjoyed a couple of glasses of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey. By the time they made it to Hogwarts, she felt a cheerful buzz tingling her skin.

It seemed that dinner was just ending as they arrived in the Entrance Hall. There was a small trickle of people leaving and in them she noticed a familiar tuff of dirty blonde hair and called out to it. Hugh turned to the sound of her voice and smiling, walked over to where she stood with two women—one face he would know anywhere and the other somewhat familiar.

"Hey, Professor," Yun Soo grinned. "I wanted to introduce you to my two roommates: Margaret Müller and Elle Thatcher."

"How do you do?" He said, shaking hands with both of them. "Ms. Müller, the goals you made in last night's match were fantastic. Where are you all in the rankings now? 4th?"

"Yeah, just 50 points behind Portugal now."

"You've got yourself quite a friend there, Kang," Hugh approved, glancing toward her with a smile.

"Whoever told you we were just friends?" Margie winked, wrapping her arms around Yun Soo's shoulders and then giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Margie!" Ellie choked out in surprise.

"What, you wanting to compete? Who do _you _like better?" she whispered into Yun Soo's ear.

"Guys, he already knows," she replied nonchalantly.

"And you're lucky Professor Snape doesn't know about it," he muttered, leaning towards her as Margie let go.

"Speaking of Snape, how have your lessons been going?" Ellie inquired.

"More like exams," she scoffed. "He doesn't teach me _anything_! His class is so useless. I'm essentially teaching myself; all he ever does is stand there and criticize my work. I swear, he's a complete and utter jackass!"

Yun Soo suddenly felt as if some dark aura were pulsating behind her and she looked back to see none-other than Severus Snape fuming. By the whispers spreading around the hall, she could tell that she had evidently spoken much louder than she had meant to. With every sound that reached Snape's ears, he was becoming more and more irate.

"Follow me," he quavered, glared at the others with disdain, and then took a war path straight through a crowd that quickly dispersed in different directions. Biting her lip, she reluctantly followed him down a deserted hallway. Once they were far away from praying eyes, he whipped around to face her with the fury of a hurricane.

"Mr. Kang," he seethed, glaring down his hooked nose with eyes as cold and merciless as a storm. She stared back from under her eyelashes, hoping to feign a look of both remorse and innocence. "You applied for this apprenticeship, did you not?"

"Yes sir," she mumbled even though she felt no regret whatsoever over what she said.

"I would think then, that you would take more care to keep it. But then again, you've proven your stupidity more than once."

Her muscles tightened but she would not allow herself to speak.

"I will not accept cheek from anyone, Mr. Kang, and especially not from someone lucky enough to have the position you have. So you'll learn to keep your tongue in check, you'll be preparing various potion ingredients after every lesson for a week until you simply cannot move your hands anymore. Next time it'll be your apprenticeship. Am I understood?"

"Yes Professor, she answered obediently.

"I assume I won't need to tell you ever again to refrain from calling me a 'complete jackass' in front of the entire school."

She almost laughed. Good to know he got the message.

"No sir."

He didn't respond. He gave her one last burning look before disappearing down the hallway. Yun Soo retreated back to the safety of the Great Hall to find her friends still as they were, waiting for her return.

"Ah, you're back. Was it bad?" Ellie asked with concern.

"Who cares? That was brilliant, mate! His expression was priceless," Margie laughed, clapping her on the back.

"I've got detention for a week now, but knowing everyone heard me call him a jackass was definitely worth it."

"You know, he'll make your life hell if you push him too far," Hugh warned.

"Well two can play at that game," she smirked.

When Yun Soo entered the Potions classroom that evening, her buzz had disappeared and been replaced with a slight headache that made her none too pleased to see Snape writing on the chalkboard at least thirty different ingredients with information on them. Thankfully she had had the foresight to bring along a quill and some parchment or else she would have further angered those jerky movements he made, bringing only more misery upon herself.

"Sit down and start copying these," he snapped, pausing for a moment to glace at her with disdain before resuming his task.

She tried to copy them down as diligently as she could, but soon he began talking about them as well, adding even more information that he warned she would need later. She kept having to stop duplicating the words on the board in order to make notes in the margins of her parchment and before long, his words had surpassed what she had written, forcing her to abbreviate everything sloppily. It was beyond frustrating. Not only that, but her bangs kept falling into her eyes, which were causing her enough trouble as it was with their far-sightedness.

Snape paused in his lecture momentarily as he watched him put on a pair of cute glasses and then hold back his hair when he resumed writing again. Snape blinked. He recollected his roaming thoughts and then continued with what he was saying.

Five minutes later, Yun Soo heard a whooshing noise and looked up in alarm to find that Snape had turned over the board and begun writing even more information on the other side. She slammed down her quill in frustration.

"Professor," she protested. He neither turned around nor asked what it was she wanted and merely continued with what he was doing.

"Professor Snape, you may be older and my teacher, but that does not mean you can simply disregard me and disrespect me. You antagonized me the moment I stepped foot into the castle, _and would you please have the decency to look at me when I speak to you!_"

Snape's hand stopped quivering and then he slowly turned around to stare at her with an indiscernible expression.

"Professor," she began quietly. "I can't write as fast as you're going. Could you please go back to the other side? I didn't get everything you wrote down there." For a moment he just stared at her.

"Hurry up," he finally uttered irritably, flipping the board back to the other side, and then collapsed into his chair. She muttered a hurried word of gratitude before continuing with her frantic note-taking.

Yun Soo left Snape's classroom that day with hands sore not only from all the notes she had taken, but from the blisters that had formed from the constant rubbing of a pestle against her hand as she was forced to crush a bag of moonstones for his classes the next day. That would be less than thrilling when she tried to write the essay (which she thankfully was not required to memorize) for the latest assignment he had given her. She would have to find some sort of ointment for them when morning finally arrived.

* * *

Still uploading old chapters from Quizilla ^^; I'll probably have some sort of comment each time I post a new chapter when it gets to that point (chapter 7). On the flipside, if anyone has any sort of constructive criticism, please message me! No one on quizilla ever does and I know my story isn't perfect ._.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

She couldn't believe it. Was he serious? Was he _actually_ serious?

Snape had been sitting at his desk grading potions when she slammed her completed essay onto an empty area and stared at him absolutely incredulous.

"My potion could potentially _explode_?"

"Not explode, Mr. Kang," He corrected, making a few notes in a grade book. "React."

"So it could 'react' by spewing a burning, acidic liquid onto me."

"Not unless you brew it incorrectly. Besides, I'm going to be watching over you this time. I don't need you burning down my classroom."

She muttered under her breath darkly as he stood up and walked over to one of the desks, conjuring a potions book opened to the Exussum Potion, various tools, and the necessary ingredients to make it.

"Isn't this an expert level potion? Why are you teaching me this now?" She asked uneasily, her eyes sweeping the ingredients before her. Some she recognized: frozen Ashwinder eggs, which were extremely flammable at any lower temperature, bubotuber pus, identifiable by its yellowish appearance and strong smell of petrol, and finally a small vial of Re'em blood, rare and expensive. The others were a complete mystery. So in other words, she had no idea what she was doing. _He definitely hates me_, she thought sourly as he began checking the book to see if he had everything he needed. _He probably can't wait to see me injure myself._

"This is to test how well you can actually follow instructions. Perhaps some danger will motivate you," he smirked as he began filling the cauldron with water. _Oh, and you probably just love thinking of all the ways I'll hurt myself. The least I could do is make sure you don't get that pleasure._

She made sure to fake the innocence of an angel when Snape looked up at her glancing from the book to each ingredient before her.

"Mr. Kang, _what_ are you doing?"

"Just checking to make sure you didn't forget anything," she answered, cocking her head in a way that dared _what? Is there something wrong?_ "After all, I wouldn't want to burn down your classroom, Professor." His eyes narrowed as she returned to her task. When she was done, he ordered with a scowl for her to begin skinning a small, white lizard labeled as a Salamander. This proved difficult since she was forced to make contact with the raw, pink skin on her hands still healing with the help of one of Madam Pomfrey's ointments.

"You're not doing it right," Snape chided. She frowned as she tried to remove the skin without chunks of the lizard's flesh separating with it, not allowing the pain this caused to show up on her face. Meanwhile, he had begun cutting one of the other ingredients, which he did with ease and swiftness. She tried to match his speed.

"You're doing it wrong again," he snapped, and with a wave of his wand the half-sliced Salamander flew out from under her knife to his section of the table despite her protest. He began to remove the skin so that not even a thin film of flesh remained on it.

"How can I learn how to do this if you're just going to do it all for me," She retorted, glaring at him.

"Then come here," he said impatiently. She slid over to where he stood as he conjured up a new Salamander, disposing of the other mutilated one.

"Turn the Salamander onto its back and then make a small cut from the snout to the end of the tail. It should be just deep enough to break the skin," He instructed. She slowly lowered the knife over the corpse and began making a cut down the middle, a small stream of scarlet blood seeping through the opening.

"You're cutting too deeply," he scolded. "Cut it like this." He grabbed her hand roughly (much to her dismay) and guided it along the middle of the creature until it was sliced from head to toe without a single drop of blood coming out. "From here you should be able to remove the skin easily, starting from the tail and working your way back up to the snout. Be careful since there are nerves connecting it to the flesh throughout."

Surprisingly it did turn out easy from there on out, if only a little time consuming since the nerves had to be cut so they did not pull on the meat and muscles. She had to admit: even if he was belittling, he did know his stuff.

The water had begun boiling and she slowly added 3 drops of Re'em blood and a milliliter of golden Celosia extract. This was left to sit for five minutes before she was to drop in ten Ashwinder eggs. As she let them fall into the light orange mixture one by one, the potion bubbled menacingly and the bubbles surrounding the eggs dispersed as the eggs rose in temperature and simply combusted, falling like small fireballs into the angry boil.

"Add them slower," Snape murmured. She noticed that his voice had lost its usual harshness and did as she was told, waiting a few seconds before dropping in the next egg. As the eggs dissolved, the liquid turned a murky brown which she then had to stir four times clockwise, and then seven times counterclockwise.

"Stir it a little slower," he corrected her as she slowed her pace.

"Is this how fast I should be stirring all potions?" She asked, now feeling much more at ease to ask questions.

"No. It depends on the consistency and thickness of the concoction," he replied, watching her slow her stirring rate. "That's fine. Whenever you have more volatile and aqueous solution, you need to stir it more slowly. Mixing it acts as a catalyst, and if you cause the ingredients to react all it once, it can cause the potion to destabilize."

"And start spewing a burning liquid," she continued with a smile. He nodded.

"Or explode, for more dangerous brews."

"But a potion doesn't necessarily just stay volatile and liquidy the entire time," she observed. The steam now emitting from the potion really wasn't doing wonders for her injuries.

"_Aqueous_, Mr. Kang, and no, it does not. So, what do you do?"

She hesitated for a moment before answering, "…adjust your stirring speed?"

"Correct. And how would you know during which stages the potion is stable as opposed to unstable, and you must, therefore, adjust your stirring speed?" Ugh, and when she had just begun to feel confident.

"Um…, watch how the potion reacts after you add each ingredient?"

"In the fourth stage of Goblin Fever Reducer, the liquid behaves exactly the same way as water. However, if you add a single drop too much of the next ingredient, the entire potion with evaporate within five minutes. It takes two _weeks_ to even reach the 4th stage. By the time you remake the entire thing, supposing you've done it correctly this time, the person you're trying to save would be dead," he stated, crossing his arms.

"I don't know what to do," she grumbled, staring into the concoction's now black appearance.

"Look at the ingredients you've used," he answered. "Can you guess why the potion at this stage is volatile?"

"Because of the Ashwinder eggs?"

"Elaborate."

"Ashwinder eggs are extremely flammable…," she reasoned. _One…two…three…four…._ "So adding them to the high temperature causes them to burn up."

"Burning the eggs merely releases their chemicals. What makes this concoction so volatile is the combination of Re'em blood and the eggs. Re'em blood is a strengthening agent that causes the chemicals in the eggs to become more reactive. Ashwinder eggs by themselves can burn down wooden structures, such as a house. Ashwinder eggs with Re'em blood could burn down this school. That's enough stirring."

"So what's this potion used for?" Yun inquired as she slowly removed the stirring rod from the cauldron and placed it on the plastic tray underneath the cauldron that she was surprised didn't catch on fire. She was glad since her hands had seriously begun to sting.

"It's used to get rid of spectral beings such as ghouls and poltergeists since they aren't affected by magic," he explained. "Next you need to extract the juice from the sopohorous beans." Oh, that was going to be a pain. She knew from her previous potion classes how difficult it was to cut one. She begrudgingly positioned her knife over the small brown bean.

"Crush it, don't cut it. It releases the juice better," Snape commented. She gave him an incredulous look, but did as she was told—and by God, it actually worked.

"Merlin's beard, where have you been all my life?" she breathed with wide, admiring eyes as she quickly squeezed out the juice into the concoction; however, when the juice touched her delicate skin, she almost dropped it from the searing pain it caused.

"Don't drop it!" Snape chided, snatching what was left of the bean from her hand. "Do you want to get us both injured?"

"If you hadn't of made me crush all those moonstones yesterday, my hands wouldn't of gotten cuts on them," she snapped, glaring at him.

"Then perhaps you should learn to take more care with your words, Mr. Kang," he retorted, returning it.

"Professor Snape," one of the portraits interrupted. They both turned away unwillingly to the painting of an older wizard wearing a pair of odd, striped pajamas. "I have a message from Professor Dumbledore." Snape sighed.

"Continue adding the juice and do _not_ burn down my classroom, Mr. Kang," he ordered and then strode over to the portrait to ask what the Headmaster wanted.

She reluctantly picked up her knife again and squeezed one, then two crushed beans over the steaming potion, each increasing the pain she was feeling. The third one came, by which time she was holding back the tears from her eyes. The juice fell from the fruit and as it fell onto her skin, her hand reacted automatically—it shot open and the small bean fell into the cauldron.

Snape heard a familiar gasp and the hiss of a reacting liquid. He whirled around abruptly to see Kang backing into the desk behind him as the potion turned an awful orange and sputtered dangerously. Instinctively, unreasonably, he ran over to where he stood frozen and cowering, pinning him against the desk so _his_body was the one exposed just as the potion erupted.

Snape inhaled sharply as the liquid quickly burned through his cloth and into his flesh. He looked at Kang who had begun lowering the raw hands shielding his face, revealing the flushed cheeks and red, parted lips underneath as he breathed almost as if he were sobbing. Then the pain hit him and Snape exhaled jaggedly as his hands curled into fists to try and squelch the searing pain that consumed his body.

Yun Soo's lashes slowly parted and she gaped at the overwhelming smell of burning flesh and the sight of Snape's cloak ridden with smoking holes. She couldn't speak as he slowly straightened up, conjured a flask and cloth, and then ordered her to use it on his wounds. She looked down at her own injuries: a couple of burns of considerable size on her torso that had thankfully not burned through her skin, and yet they still hurt tremendously. What, then, could Snape be feeling, his eyes shut from what must have been the excruciating pain of a full blast of the burning liquid?

What she saw when she walked behind him made her stomach turn and the floor under her feet swoon dangerously. Surrounded by singed cloth were holes of exposed muscle and flesh, red, raw, and bleeding dangerously so that the charcoal cloth had turned an even darker color. Hands shaking, she mechanically dampened the cloth with the potion he had given her and gingerly applied it to his sickening wounds. Her hands shook harder as he leaned once more on the desk and breathed more heavily. The wound began to heal itself, so she moved to the next one, and then the next, her mind full of thoughts she couldn't even begin to grasp and analyze. Gradually, his breathing slowed to a more regular pace and his hands straightened out.

"That's enough….," he muttered and turned around to face her. She handed him the cloth and flask unable to meet his gaze as he examined her own wounds. "Go to the Prefect's bathroom and soak in some cool water. It'll help with the pain."

Snape watched as she nodded stiffly and then left the classroom without a glance in his direction. His own wounds still throbbed painfully, so he walked through the door leading to his quarters and filled up his bathtub with slightly warm water and a couple of drops of a healing potion that would help soothe him. He cautiously removed his daily wear and draped it over a wooden chair, making a mental note to try and repair it later, and then gingerly lowered himself into the murky bathwater.

Half an hour later, he rose from the tub feeling somewhat refreshed, wrapping a white towel around his waist as he strode over to wooden medicine cabinet above his sink to look for a comb to untangle his damp hair. It was then his eyes landed on the burn ointment within and he remembered he had given Kang nothing to heal his injuries. _He'll probably just go to Madam Pomfrey anyways_, Snape thought with a frown and then began combing his hair.

When Yun Soo reached the Prefect bathrooms, she vaguely realized that there would be charms stopping a girl from entering the guy's bathroom and so she took the left path to the girl's bathroom, walking straight through the changing room onto the tiled floor of the bath. She carefully peeled off her uniform and stepped into the bath, turning the facet so it filled with cool water that felt soothing to her wounds. She tried her best to focus on that, focus on her own injuries that were troubling her. And yet, no matter how hard she concentrated, the same memory kept protruding into her mind, the memory of Snape rushing in front of her so that her own body would be shielded from disaster.

But wasn't it his fault it occurred in the first place-his fault that her hands had been injured and accident prone?

But hadn't he selflessly chosen to sacrifice his well-being for her own?

Suddenly the sound of voices in the corridor awoke her from her contemplating and then to her horror, she heard the door open and the voices echo loudly in the small changing room that was separated from the bath by a short wall. But even more horrifying was that she recognized one of the voices.

It was the voice of Dolores Umbridge.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"This is the Prefect's bathroom," that trill voice declared with an unmistakable hint of contempt.

"What? A bathroom to themselves?"

"And so much more extravagant. How unjust."

She seemed to be with a two others. Who these people were and what they could be doing here so late at night was a question she'd have to deal with later. Right now, all that stood between Umbridge discovering her secret was a wall. She turned and rose from the bath as quietly as she could with the welcome cover of their echoing voices and slipped into her clothes, not even bothering with the vest. She knew that the only way she could escape without being noticed was to steal into the changing rooms as they came to the bath. Although that echoing was a blessing so far, it turned into a curse now. She had no idea which side they would come from and couldn't dare a peek around the corner.

Yun Soo wiped her damp feet and moved to one side of the wall. Then she threw her belt at the other side.

The talking ceased immediately as the reverberation of metal on tile rang throughout the bathroom. Then came footsteps and just as she had hoped, they went towards the belt. A tuft of mousy brown hair and an ambrosia tweed suit appeared in her line of sight and she swallowed uneasily. She took a run for the door.

Too slow.

A voice from behind her demanded her to halt but she refused to stop. She wasn't an idiot. Their clicking footsteps indicated they were probably wearing heals and for that she was grateful.

Whether Yun Soo outran them or they merely stopped trying to chase her was a thing of relief when she finally made it to the safety of her bedroom. Panting, she went over to her dresser and grabbed the bottle of water placed atop it. That was close. Too close. She was pretty sure neither Umbridge nor the two other women she was with had seen her but that was an incident that should have never happened in the first place. Hugh finding out she was a girl and now Umbridge possibly finding out the same? She was a step away from getting herself expelled. It could never happen again.

Yun Soo went to bed and got what little sleep she could.

The Great Hall was a welcome sight the next day with streams of morning light glimmering upon the usual varied breakfast spread. A low hum filled the hall as only about a fourth of the students and a little less than half the staff had started eating. She had arrived early—not by choice, mind you. She'd merely been unable to sleep well what with her nerves and those damn burns. She was irritable, to say the least, and it was only a bigger annoyance that Hugh was nowhere in sight. She took her usual seat two away from Snape's who was occupying himself with a Daily Prophet and a plate of french toast. Sighing, she poured herself a bowl of cereal.

She didn't eat much. Wasn't in the mood. It was of some relief when Hugh came since she at least had someone friendly to distract herself with, but those burns were beginning to smart….

Out of the corner of his eye, Snape noticed Kang wince. Hadn't he gone to the hospital wing? His burn wasn't that severe so it should have healed rather quickly…, but then again he hadn't always made the most intelligent decisions.

"Mr. Kang," Snape bristled, the corners of his lips downturned. "Did you put _anything_ on your burns?"

"You were burned?" Norewood asked in surprise.

"I messed up a potion," he confessed with a culpable grin and then eyed him with a less than friendly expression. "I was thinking of going to Madam Pomfrey's later but no, I haven't gotten anything for them yet."

He sighed.

"Follow me."

Snape watched him rise reluctantly from his seat before leading him to his office.

"Wait here," he commanded indicating a spot near his desk with a nod of his head and disappeared behind a door. Yun Soo sighed in annoyance and leaned against Snape's desk with arms folded. Honestly, she could have just gone to Madam Pomfrey's later. Anything would be better than having to spend an unnecessary awkward moment with her "cheerful" potions master.

He came back quickly carrying the cone shaped leaf of a magically enhanced aloe vera and a knife. Moving a stack of parchment to the side, he sliced it lengthwise and scooped out some of the translucent white flesh within.

"Rub this on it," he instructed handing it to her. She hesitated. This was going to be awkward given she'd have to reach underneath her vest which was meant to be close fitting, but then again, it would be nice having no burns for the damn thing to rub against. Awkwardly, she squeezed her hand between the vest and her body. It was a bit of a chore trying to keep her shirt from moving up; if Snape were to see it, he'd probably start asking question which was the last thing she needed.

The aloe vera essence was a godsend. The irritation her burns caused instantly dissipated and she suspected the red swelling they caused had disappeared as well. Snape had begun extracting the rest of the plant's tissue and depositing it into a glass phial.

"Uh, thanks…sir," she offered, glancing towards him. He stopped for a moment, jaw tightening then slacking, and then he gave a stiff nod in her direction. Snape watched behind a curtain of black hair as he left the classroom, surprised by this ounce of civility. His black eyes turned back to the plant. He bottled the last remnants of the healing agent and placed it in his personal storage closet.

Yun Soo ascended the stairs to head towards the libarary. The halls were mostly deserted since this was the busiest time for breakfast and she could sense a sort of morning sluggishness hanging about the air.

"…in the girl's bathroom!" echoed an indigent voice as she arrived at the third floor. It was a voice easily recognizable. Yun Soo stopped in her tracks and peered at two shadows stopped around a corner, one short and pudgy while the other stood tall and elegant.

"Once again, Dolores, allow me to express how grieved I am to hear such news," responded the voice of professor Dumbledore with sincere gravity. "I shall strengthen the charms myself so that an incident like this will never occur again. Meanwhile, if you have any idea as to who the culprit may be, I will have them questioned immediately."

"Yes…, your cooperation is always valued, headmaster," Umbridge declared with fake sweetness, as if the corridor was full Daily Prophet reporters she needed to impress. Umbridge's shadow slowly disappeared and she decided it was best to get out of there. So Umbridge didn't know who had been in the bathroom. Lucky her. But she would undoubtedly have a small idea as to what the culprit looked like and she would fit the bill.

"Mr. Kang," a voice called from behind. She turned around to see the headmaster climbing the stairs toward her.

"Good morning, professor," she greeted with a smile. Even though she was nervous that he may have figured out she had been eavesdropping, she couldn't help but feel a little more cheerful each time she saw him. He was like a loveable grandfather.

"A very good morning to you as well," he beamed. "I hope I am not taking up too much of your time?"

"Not at all, sir."

"Spledid. Shall we continue?"

She accepted his offer and then continued onward.

"A very strange thing happened last night," professor Dumbledore began, a knowing glint lighting up his periwinkle eyes. "It seems that during professor Umbridge's inspection of the girl's prefect bathroom last night, she saw someone there—a boy, nonetheless." From his sly smile she could tell that he had some sort of idea that whoever had been in there might have been her. She looked towards him apologetically.

"Sorry. I messed up on the potion professor Snape set for me and some of it splashed on me so he told me to go to the prefect's bathroom to soak it in water. Then Umbridge came and…well…."

The headmaster chuckled.

"I suspected as much. It didn't make sense that a student could have broken those charms. They are quite powerful. I hope you were not burned too badly?"

She shook her head.

"Professor Snape gave me an ointment for them so I'm fine now," Yun Soo assured him with a short smile. How was Snape anyways? His wounds had been so horrible….

"That is a relief then," he nodded and then stopped in his tracks."Well, I won't delay you any longer, Mr. Kang. I think I'll nip into the Great Hall to see if any of those delectable blueberry muffins are left."

They said their adieus and Dumbledore was left to watch the young woman walk away with a small twinge of hope nestled in his heart. Severus, the man who always pushed people away, the man who seemed to only have any concern towards Lily, had been considerate enough to not push her off onto Poppy. It wasn't much, but it was a step forward.

"What a relief, indeed," he mused and then turned away humming to himself.

Once again that evening, Yun Soo found herself peeking through the white vapor of her boiling Strengthening Solution at the slouching figure of Snape, who had moved on to another stack of parchment. He seemed to be moving at his usual pace and was sitting in a perfectly normal position. He was probably fine. He was the potions master after all. He could just brew something up at will to heal himself with. And besides that, it was his fault to begin with. It's not like he had to run in front of her like that. He could have just as easily used some sort of spell to block it.

"Mr. Kang," Snape's irritated voice broke in, distracting her from her thoughts. "Is there any reason why you've taken to staring at me for the last fourty-five minutes?"

"Huh?" she stammered. "Oh, uh—just wondering if you could check to see if I'm doing this right." She stopped stirring her mulberry concoction and stepped back as Snape strode over to the pewter cauldron and peered inside.

"It's darker than it should be…,"he observed and then took the ladle from her, giving it a stir. "And the potion is too thick. Let me see how you've cut the tubeworms." She showed him the small red circlets that were lying on the desk, ready to be added to the potion.

"Too broad," he criticized, eying her with a chiding look. "Too uneven, and most likely you haven't been stirring your potion at regular intervals. This potion could have been made perfectly if you would have merely paid attention. It's still manageable, but you won't pass your exam with this quality of work and if it didn't take two days to make this, I'd have you redo it." She shot him a look of frustration.

"If you weren't going to accept my criticism, you shouldn't have asked for my opinion in the first place," he responded, glaring down his hooked nose at her.

"I'm not mad that you told me what I'm doing wrong," she explained in exasperation, looking away from him.

"Then what is it?" He asked irritably. Snape watched as he opened his mouth and then closed it again. Kang glanced towards him with eyebrows furrowed.

"Are you okay?"

Snape was caught off guard.

"I—what?"

Kang shifted uncomfortably and clasped the back of his neck.

"I-it's just that you were burned pretty badly…and it was my fault that my hands were in bad shape since I was the one who disrespected you so, uh, sorry…about that…. Er, the wounds…?"

"I'm fine," he stated, looking away. "Finish the potion."

"Uh…,yes, professor…," he answered awkwardly. Snape returned to his desk and glanced towards the classroom to see Kang had begun cutting a new tubeworm. He looked back down at the quill in his hand, eyebrows knit together and jaw locked tightly together. Disdain he could ignore. Conditional regard he could accept. Genuine concern over his own well-being? It was unexpected to say the least.

Reluctant though he didn't wish to admit it, he willed himself to return to his menial task.

Yun Soo had dropped the remaining tubeworm slices needed and gave the potion a final stir before leaving it to simmer for ten minutes. She turned to Snape.

"Professor," she began, lowering herself into the nearest seat. "How exactly is my education planned out?"

Snape paused for a moment, then placed his quill back in an inkwell and cleared his throat.

"Well, you'll have one and a half years of general potions education split into seven categories: strength, physical, psychological, healing, magical creatures, offensive, and emotion. Afterwards you'll have an exam and if you pass, you'll need to choose a subject to go further into for another year. Or several, if you're skilled enough for it."

"Which one did you choose, sir?" she puzzled. He looked up at her.

"I studied strengthening potions, psychological potions, and healing potions—more specifically, poisons and antidotes." Her eyes widened.

"That many?"

"It was difficult, but necessary."

"But you're a teacher," she marveled. "Surely you didn't need to study so many of them so extensively?" He looked away, jaw tightening then loosening.

"For the…line of work I had wanted to go into, it was necessary," he replied slowly. He glanced towards her potion. "You should get back to your potion, Mr. Kang." Yun Soo turned around to see it had begun to bubble slightly.

"Ah, yes…," She acknowledged with disappointment and watched as Snape turned away. Frowning, she began adjusting the heat of the cauldron.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Kang Yun Soo entered the Great Hall, noticing with relief that professor Snape was still seated. It was morning and little more than a month had passed. Like many others this Saturday, she had arisen with the intention of a taking a late breakfast; although, this was mostly due to the fact that she had stayed up until two in the morning researching her newest assignment. In her hands were clutched the fruits of her labor, incomplete, but fascinating.

"Good morning, professor," she beamed, taking the empty seat beside him. "I was doing some research yesterday and I had a question about the Invigoration Draught."

"I suspected as much," he sighed, although he did not seem particularly angry about it. "What confused you?"

When Hugh strode into Great Hall that morning, he couldn't help but be a little surprised to see Snape and Yun Soo once again bent over a piece of parchment discussing its contents.

"Honestly, five weeks and I'm still not used to this," he complained with mock resentment, collapsing into the seat beside hers. "I'm cast aside so easily…."

She laughed. "Aw, are you mad I took your seat, professor?"

"By all means keep it. He's a damn well unpleasant fellow to sit by," Hugh smiled, biting into a biscuit. Snape scoffed, his lips twitching into a smirk.

"If I remember correctly, it was you who came to me your first year of teaching."

"I was having trouble and you were the youngest one there besides myself. I thought it'd be easier to ask someone my age. How bloody wrong I was."

"Well you never did know when people didn't want you around."

This friendly bickering continued on as Yun Soo reached towards a plate of bacon. She had just begun to pile them on her plate when a brown and white Eastern Grass Owl landed in an empty space before her with a cream envelope tied to its leg. It was one she recognized and she immediately began petting its familiar soft feathers. Curiosity crossing her features, she untied the letter.

"Go up to the Owlery and get some food," she murmured in Korean. It gave her hand a small nudge and then disappeared into the rafters.

She glanced back at the letter and broke the seal. The handwriting she could easily identify.

"Sunbae," she grinned and her eyes quickly scanned each line.

"An admirer?" Hugh asked with a sly smile. She shot him a reproachful glare.

"_He_," she smirked with an incredulous expression. "Was one of my upperclassmen in my school in Korea. Sunbae is what you call someone who's your senior. Now he works for my father—"She scanned the letter again—"And by the looks of it, they've just come back from their archeological dig in Egypt. You'd probably get along well with Sunbae."

"Ah, he has an interest in Ancient Runes I take it?"

"Yeah, that's why my dad keeps him around," she said and then turned back to Snape. "And thanks for the help, professor. By the way, there's no lesson this Tuesday, is there?"

"Not with the Halloween celebration occurring," he grumbled, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Why does it not surprise me that you're against it?" She laughed. "I think I'll use your fireplace today to head over to Diagon Alley. I need to get a costume and besides that, I've been meaning to see if there are any jobs available. "

"I'd better not see your potions work starting to slip, Kang," Snape commented, eyebrow cocked.

"What'd I tell you? He takes delight in abusing people," Hugh maintained.

"Well I always knew he was a sadist," she smirked and then stared at Snape defiantly. "You won't scare _me_, professor."

"A sadist, Kang? Do I need to give you another detention to teach you to respect your professors?"

"You're always so mean to me," she pouted.

"I suppose the only thing we can do is team up against his tyranny," Hugh sighed. Snape scoffed, taking in the last few drops of his drink before standing up.

"I'm going to my office to leave you idiots to yourselves." Yun Soo and Hugh laughed as they watched Snape's retreating figure.

When Yun Soo found her stomach sufficiently satisfied, she headed back to her room, extracting from her dresser blue cropped pants, a striped tank top, and a ¾ sleeve black blazer. This she paired with some lace-up canvas Oxfords and a slim belt and then headed for Snape's office. He sat leaning back in his office chair, a novel of some sort resting in one hand as he slowly turned the page with the other. The area was well lit unlike most other instances. She strode over to a small glass jar and clutched some of the shimmering green powder within. She turned her head towards Snape.

"See you, professor," she chirped. He acknowledged this with a leisurely nod of his head. Then she disappeared in a whirl of green flames.

The sky was overcast as usual when she entered the cobblestone streets of Diagon Alley, but despite this it seemed immensely cheerful with the extravagant Halloween decorations outside every shop. Halloween had always been an important holiday in the wizarding world, but after the fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on October 31st, it had become even more significant. Most of the people she passed were smiling.

The first place Yun Soo entered was a dingy little shop with some muggle-grade costumes. They were cheap so it shouldn't have been a surprise, but still, nothing she found worth paying for. She went to another, still finding nothing to catch her eye. As she exited this store, she spotted a familiar café up the street. It was the one she had worked in ever since coming to Britain and one that had first introduced her to Ellie and Margie.

It was only late morning so there were only a couple of round wooden tables occupied. Just outside of the open door was a café board depicting a chalk maid that winked and smiled at passerby. Above her were the words '_MAID DAY_.' Walking inside, Yun Soo noticed that the place looked just as it always had; a wide window illuminated the sensual yellow walls and familiar dark wood adorning both the chairs and floor. The glass covered candles and burgundy window seat gave the place an extra sense of sophistication. From an old wooden radio came the pleasing sound of some French witch.

Yun Soo easily spotted Ellie standing at the counter wearing a black and white maid uniform. She called out to her.

"Yun Soo!" Ellie greeted with a start as she turned around to see her roommate standing at the entrance with a grin. She quickly went up to her and hugged her. "How have you been?"

"Good. Maid Day, eh?" Yun Soo remarked with raised eyebrows. "That was probably one of my least favorites. The only thing worse was Ethnic Day."

"But I liked your Ethnic Day costume. We all did."

"That _Gisaeng_ dress? I mean, I know they were entertainers, but a lot of westerners seem to think they were just prostitutes. Not good for my image."

They heard someone gasp from behind them and turned around to see a brown haired French woman—the owner of the place—come towards her with wide smile.

"Bonjour!," the owner exclaimed, giving Yun Soo an air kiss on both cheeks. "It's been so long since I've last seen you."

"It's good to see you again," Yun Soo grinned. "How's the café going?"

"Same as usual," she said with a wave of her hand. "Why don't you sit down? I'll get you a pain au chocolat and some coffee."

Yun Soo took a seat at a corner table as Ellie went to welcome some new customers. The manager came back a couple of minutes later, the small wooden tray floating at her side carrying two ceramic coffee cups and a warm chocolate croissant.

"So what are you doing here in Diagon Alley?" she asked as the items landed softly before them. She occupied the opposite seat.

"I'm trying to find a Halloween costume," Yun Soo answered, taking a sip of her coffee. "Hogwarts is having some sort of dance for its Halloween celebration. Costumes required. By the way, you haven't heard about any job openings around here, have you?

"Why don't you come work for me again? I could let you borrow one of our costumes."

"I can't. What if someone from Hogwarts sees me?"

"Then work for me as a guy," the manager smiled. Yun Soo nearly choked on her croissant. "Why is it such a surprise? I've been thinking of catering to more people anyways and it's not like Hogwarts. What would it matter if someone finds out you're a girl? Then after you're done with your schooling, you can wear the female costumes again."

Yun Soo glanced towards the window with a frown and eyebrows knit together.

"I guess that would work…," she answered slowly. "But there is no way I'm going to borrow one of your costumes. The last thing I need is for more people to get suspicious. "

"You're no fun," a familiar voice said from behind her. She looked around and then jumped up to give Margie a hug.

"What are you doing here?" Yun Soo grinned.

"Came for lunch," she answered dismissively. "So what's this I hear about Halloween party at Hogwarts?"

"Nothing I need you knowing about," Yun Soo replied, pushing in the chair she had been sitting in and then pointed at the manager. "And don't you dare tell her about it."

"Wouldn't dream of it," The Frenchwoman smiled. She said their goodbyes to them and then headed out into the autumn air entirely unaware of the plans brewing in the mischievous minds of her friends.

Just as expected, Hogwarts on Halloween did not disappoint. The decorations were bewitching and the food more than scrumptious. Most of the teachers, including herself, had adorned a costume for the day. Professor Snape, of course, was not among them, but she couldn't help but laugh at the thought that he fit in well nonetheless. It was at the end of this delightful feast that Dumbledore stood up with the intention of making a speech. The Great Hall quieted almost immediately.

"I hope you all have enjoyed today's dinner; however, I'm sure you all cannot wait to be dismissed in order to ready yourselves for this evening's celebration. I do apologetically remind the younger students that only those who are in their fourth year or above may attend. But I give each and every one of you this warning," the headmaster stated, twinkling eyes peering over his half moon spectacles at the students before him. "There is no telling what you may find there and once inside, you cannot leave until the clock strike's twelve. But now, off to your dorms, pip, pip!"

There was much noise as the students stood and began conversing with each other. Yun Soo and the teachers had also risen, but they would be staying to get the area ready. Deciding that this was a party she really wouldn't mind missing, she went and joined the masses filing out of the Great Hall. It was only seven o'clock and she didn't have any work to do until tomorrow, so she figured she might as well start a novel she had been meaning to read. Of course, had she known Margie and her manager were going to drag her off to Norewood's office, she would have done double time in the opposite direction.

"What the hell?" she asked as she stared up at the two of them bewildered from the chair she had been forced into. "If you guys wanted me to go somewhere with you, you could have just asked you know."

They exchanged looks that made her skin crawl.

"I'm not so sure about that," Margie said, a suspicious smile playing at her lips. She extracted her wand and waved it with flourish, a nearby closet slowly opening as a look of horror crossed Yun Soo's features.

It was the Giseng dress: pink, layered, and in all its obnoxiously extravagant glory. They had even brought the flower adorned veil and butterfly hair ornaments.

"You're not putting me in that."

"But you'll look so beautiful!"

"I'm supposed to be a guy, remember?"

"And it's Halloween. Costumes are a wonderful thing."

She stood up. "I'm leaving."

Margie smirked. "Try it."

Yun Soo stumbled as she was shoved back into the Great Hall by Margie. She whirled around as the doors, hidden behind a black lace curtain, creaked shut. Pushing aside some of the curtain, she tried the door handle. It was locked. _Once inside, you cannot leave until the clock strike's twelve._

Yun Soo slowly turned around to the dimly lit room. Thankfully it seemed no one had turned at her entrance. They had all been busy wandering about the tableless room, guided by the light of cackling jack-o-lanterns. In the middle, couples danced to Dimitri Shostakovich's The Second Waltz, swirling around the fog laden floor as a chandelier swung precariously above them, occasionally dropping low as if it were going to fall on top of them. She shivered. This was not her ideal place to be at the moment. If someone recognized her, especially if that someone were professor Snape or Umbridge, it could mean the end of her apprenticeship at Hogwarts.

Using the veil to cover some of her face, she cautiously made her way to the edge of the room to try and see if there weren't some other exit she could try. It seemed that with the scarlet punch and ornate mirrors lining the walls that showed nothing but an empty room, professor Dumbledore had decided on a vampire theme. She remembered that near the teachers' table there was another door that would lead behind the grand staircase. From there she'd be able to make it to the entrance hall and then back to the safety of the dungeons.

She had just squeezed her way through a group of Ravenclaws, when she suddenly came upon a set of black wizarding robes she would have been an idiot not to recognize. She had been trying to keep her head down so as to avoid detection, but it seemed to have worked against her. Now she stood a couple of feet away gaping at a man who could ruin all of her dreams in an instant.

Snape had been incredibly irritable the entire night. Of all possible things—of all possible days, how could Dumbledore have forced him to celebrate this one yet again? How could he be so cruel? He had been silently brooding in a way such as this when he suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye something odd…odd, yet strangely familiar. He had turned just before the person beside him did, enabling him to catch a glimpse of the face now hidden by a veil. He grabbed the person by the arm just as she had turned away and stopped her in her tracks.

"Turn around," Snape commanded slowly, brows contorted. She only did a half turn, but it was enough. Beneath the veil was the mortified face of his apprentice.

"New costume, Mr. Kang?" He remarked rigidly, an impenetrable gaze masking the strange waves of emotion churning within him.

"It's not my fault," he retorted, eyes downcast. "My friends forced me into this and then they shoved me in here. I've been trying to get out."

Snape exhaled. "You can't get out; all the exits are locked."

He fidgeted nervously. "But you're a teacher. Surely you can let me out?"

Snape cocked an eyebrow in disbelief at this display. Was he truly that insecure? If anyone actually found out about this, the only ones who would be talking about it would be the students and Norewood. The gossip of teenagers was of no consequence anyways and he should be used to Norewood's jests by now. But then again he did seem apprehensive when it came to his some of his more feminine characteristics.

"Professor Dumbledore is the only one who has that power. Unless you're sick or dying, you won't be leaving."Kang groaned. Snape glanced towards the crowd to see the familiar dirty blonde hair of his mischievous friend. "Here comes Norewood."

Yun Soo glared at him as he approached them.

"Snape, my friend, how are you this fine evening? And who's—" Hugh realized who was beneath the veil and had to cough into his hand to keep from laughing.

"You're an ass."

"I didn't dress you up like this."

"You let them use your office! You're just as guilty as they are."

"Oh, come now. You have to admit it was a bloody good joke."

"Maybe I'll be able to appreciate it later, but for right now you're still an ass."

This trio stayed like this for a rather long time, but eventually Hugh had to return to his post. Yun Soo stayed with the potions master—or rather, behind him—as the evening wore on. She felt safer this way. After an hour and the last song had been played, the candles suddenly dimmed. Everyone looked towards the front of the Great Hall in confusion as professor Dumbledore stepped up to the podium. He smiled

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I ask that you situate yourselves to the sides of the room?" With much disorder, the teachers helped to move everyone and she was separated from Snape, only able to count on the insubstantial lighting to hide her face. The room had once again quieted down. With a flurried wand movement, dozens of round tables appeared in the middle of the room along with simple wooden chairs. The curtain covering the entrance suddenly began to tear itself to pieces, the articles of lace flying over to each of the tables to create tablecloths. Then a white screen unfolded itself so that the doors were once again covered. "Let us begin the horror movie."

Yun Soo felt as if she were being smothered by the dark wall of bodies surrounding her. _Horror movie?_

* * *

So, kind of just realized that I never actually published this part like I thought I had _; So sorry about the wait. I hope this is more interesting than last time!


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